The democratic social system is more widespread in modern society than any other. Democracy has drawbacks, but at the moment the countries where the authorities are elected by voting, and important state issues are decided in referendums, are the most free and developed, the level of well-being of the population in them greatly exceeds that of autocratic countries.
Democracy first emerged in the Greek polis (city-state) of Athens in the classical period of ancient history on the wave of the development of society, culture and arts. The aristocrats had less and less power, which gradually passed to the demos - the people. Gradually, participation in public administration became the responsibility of all citizens of the policy, except for women, slaves, foreigners - xenos and even immigrants - metecs (as they would now say, persons with a residence permit).
Contrary to the initial idea, not all citizens of Athens could take part in the voting, since, firstly, not everyone was interested in state affairs, and secondly, some people who had the right to vote could not get to every vote from the city outskirts, wasting time and leaving household chores. However, this was provided for, and the quorum was 6,000 citizens, that is, no more than a quarter of all who had the right to vote, and this concerned only the most important issues. For less important discussions, no more than 2-3 thousand gathered.
Gradually, the position of Athens among the Greek city-states was shaken, and with it the democracy. In 411 BC. e. 400 of the richest Athenian families took full control of Athens. Thus, Athenian democracy perished and an oligarchy was born.
At about the same time as Athenian democracy, a form of democratic government emerged in Rome. At first, the Roman Republic was ruled only by the patricians - the native Romans. However, gradually, the plebeians, that is, the Roman commoners, achieved the same rights for themselves. As in Athens, women and slaves were deprived of the right to vote in Rome, but persons officially residing in the territory of Rome had such a right.
The democratic Roman Republic lasted much longer than the Athenian one. Rome passed from a democratic form of government to a monarchical empire only after the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar, in whose honor the title of the supreme ruler of the Empire - Caesar or Caesar - began to be named. Later, on behalf of Caesar, the word king, which was widespread among the eastern and southern Slavs, also occurred.
On the territory of modern Russia, the first (and, in fact, the last until the collapse of the USSR) democratic formation was the Novgorod Republic. However, it was not democracy in the full sense of the word. The last word in any decision belonged to the prince, although he listened to the opinion of the popular assembly - veche. After the conquest of Novgorod by Moscow, any attempts at self-government were brutally suppressed.
